MILAN — On the same day Amber Glenn won Olympic gold as part of the team event, and stepped away from social media due to backlash over her comments on politics and the LGBTQ+ community, the American figure skater ended up with another headache.Canadian artist Seb McKinnon, who produces music under the name CLANN, took to social media late Sunday to object to the use of his song “The Return,” which Glenn had used in her free skate — and has been using for the past two years without issue.“So just found out an Olympic figure skater used one of my songs without permission for their routine. It aired all over the world … what? Is that usual practice for the Olympics?” McKinnon posted to X, shortly after the team competition had ended.Figure skaters are required to obtain permission for the music they use, but that process is hardly straightforward.Sometimes the label or record producer owns the copyright, other times the artist themselves, and often there are multiple parties involved. Skaters sometimes will piece together different cuts of music, too. Throw in third-party companies such as ClicknClear that try to smooth out the permission process, and the entire copyright issue becomes murky and nuanced.According to McKinnon, “The deal I have with my label is that I alone can give the OK to license my music.”Glenn was not available for comment on the music issue early Monday. She planned to take the day off from training and then leave Milan to practice elsewhere ahead of the individual women’s event, which begins Feb. 17 with the short program.Messages left by The Associated Press with U.S. Figure Skating about Glenn’s copyright problem were not immediately returned.The issue is not the first bit of controversy involving Glenn at the Milan Cortina Games.The outspoken LG …
